Golden State Killer Suspect Held without Bail

Authorities allege that Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, raped and murdered at least a dozen people. Once believed to be one of ‘California’s most elusive serial killers,’ DeAngelo was arrested last month after law enforcement found additional evidence linking him to the crimes. DeAngelo who was originally arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder was recently charged with an additional four murder counts. He is being held at the Sacramento County Jail without bail. DeAngelo faces murder charges across California including Orange County, Sacramento County and Ventura County. In addition to these murders, it is believed that the suspect committed at least 45 rapes and over 100 burglaries.

The Golden State Killer terrorized calm, upper-middle-class neighborhoods across the state for years. He was originally known in Visalia as the Visalia Ransacker, in the Sacramento area as the East Area Rapist, in Santa Barbara as the Original Night Stalker and less commonly as the Diamond Knot Killer before being referred to as the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo, a former police officer, has been linked to several of the murders by DNA evidence and to others based on the killer’s modus operandi according to authorities. The FBI re-opened the cold cases in June 2016 offering a $50,000 reward for his arrest.